Confidence is overrated. A more effective, scientifically-grounded approach to improve performance is self-efficacy. We often hear about the importance of confidence. "Believe in yourself," the advice goes. Although intuitive, it's not as helpful. What exactly is confidence? Is it innate? Or can you work at it? Self-efficacy is a more| Leading Sapiens
Context is a powerful tool in leadership but goes underutilized and misunderstood - a deep dive into why mastering context is essential to effective leadership.| Leading Sapiens
Framing is a key skill to create psychological safety and improve performance. But most leaders are unaware or don't know how to get better at it.| Leading Sapiens
What makes someone "leadership material"? This often depends on who's making the call and what their Implicit Leadership Theory is - we all have one.| Leading Sapiens
Self-doubt is not an impediment to be eliminated as is commonly thought of. It's a condition of the game and can even be a positive indicator.| Leading Sapiens
Leadership development is usually about positive abilities. Negative Capability is often forgotten but equally critical. What is it and what prevents it?| Leading Sapiens
Ever wonder why that particular initiative of yours never got traction? Organizational politics kills more initiatives than people realize, and happens both at leadership and individual contributor levels. Understanding some of the dynamics can help to better navigate the terrain. Three organizational layers and their experiences * The individual contributor: You| Leading Sapiens
Most leaders tend to have a default go-to style with possibly another that they use in extreme situations. Each style has its own set of characteristics.| Leading Sapiens
Identity is often thought as something static from which our actions come. It's more helpful to see it as an effect that follows from our actions.| Leading Sapiens
Choice is typically not thought of in the context of goals. This is a mistake as it's fundamental to setting effective goals and peak performance.| Leading Sapiens
Excellence is more mundane than we think. Understanding its nuances increases our likelihood of success. Not doing so sets us up for failure.| Leading Sapiens
In their book, Business Experimentation, Rob James and Jules Goddard highlight two approaches to strategy that are diametrically opposite to each other. The lone big bet is still the norm First is the traditional big bet approach characterized by centralized once a year planning, while the second is a culture| Leading Sapiens
Locus of control refers to how we view circumstances in terms of the amount of control we have over situations and the experiences that affect us. I look at locus of control specifically in the context of leadership and management: how locus of control impacts leadership performance, and how it| Leading Sapiens
Leaders are paid to think clearly. And a big impediment to clear thinking is what CBT/REBT calls Cognitive Distortions: errors in thinking or thinking traps we commonly fall for. Most high-performers are not pathological, but instead fall for them when upset or in high-stress situations. In this post, I| Leading Sapiens